The aquatic plant Eichhornia Crassipes Mart Solmes, commonly referred to as water hyacinths, is a vascular plant which grows on the surface of the water with root structures generally extending only a few inches below the surface. This plant grows in densities ranging between 40 and 150 wet tons per acre, in fresh water bodies ranging from small canals and lakes to very large lakes and rivers. Water hyacinths can cause considerable ecological and economic harm in certain areas of the United States, particularly in the warmer regions, such as Florida and other southeastern states.
Numerous systems and methods have been developed in the prior art for harvesting aquatic plants. Applicant's application Ser. No. 533,012 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,616 disclosed a number of prior art patents dealing with the harvesting and processing of water hyacinths. In that application, Applicant disclosed an improved system which can be utilized to condition and remove the plants from a body of water for further processing. In particular, Applicant disclosed generally an apparatus for collecting and processing the aquatic plants by chopping into a uniform size to permit easy removal by a pumping mechanism.